The lousy play won’t last because the Hawks are too talented, but the lousy play at this time gives management insight to the team’s holes.

Maybe the last week of watching the Hawks and wanting to trade the Visine for battery acid confirmed what general manager Stan Bowman knew. Like, say, the one downside to trading Brian Campbell and his silly salary is how it affects production on the power play.

Or maybe it showed Bowman something he didn’t expect. Like, I don’t know, free-agent defensemen signed to provide reliable depth aren’t even Chris Campoli at this point.

Either way, it’s better to find out that stuff now. It’s better to try to fix it now, either from within the system or by raiding someone else’s.

Look, despite their awful play of late, the Hawks are still in first place in the Central Division. They are tied for third overall in the Western Conference and tied for the fourth overall in the NHL. They got off to a good start that is helping minimize the damage from recent play that makes you want to suck on an exhaust pipe.

Like I said, this is a good time for bad. Even when the bad starts at the top. One goal in the last two weeks by Jonathan Toews is not exactly captain-like leadership. Two goals in about the same stretch by Patrick Sharp is not exactly alternate captain-like play. But come on, do you think those guys will stink like that all season?

Do you actually think the Hawks forgot how to go tape-to-tape? Do you believe all those snipers will never again score with the man-advantage? Do you feel that all the speed they have on that roster is suddenly going all Brent Sopel?